[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 7, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H4440]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CUTTING FUNDING FOR EDUCATION--NOT THE RIGHT DIRECTION

  (Ms. LOFGREN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I read that the majority leader made this 
statement on Sunday: Maybe we ought to take another look at the amount 
of money we are spending on education. And I thought, finally, good--we 
do need to take a look at the amount of money we are spending on 
education.
  I saw today in the Washington Post that in Korea kids get out of 
school at 10 p.m., and they go to school 6 days a week. Is it any 
wonder that they are leaving us in the dust? They have gone from Third 
World to major competitor in a few short years because they are putting 
money into education.
  But I learned, in fact, that the majority leader's proposal is to cut 
education funding to pay for a proposal to cut the gas tax.
  This is not the direction we should be heading. Where I come from, 
families are indeed struggling to pay for very high gas bills; they are 
commuters. But the thing they know more than anything else is that, if 
we want to get ahead as a country, it is important to take the long 
view and make sure that our kids are the best educated in the world.

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